The Rapid Log · 04
“Be useful.”
When it comes to communication, this is one of the most important pieces of advice I’ve received… But it can also feel the most limiting. It invites a healthy dose of perfectionism to the table — spillover from years spent writing in the world of business, perhaps.
When I’m busy optimizing for usefulness, it’s hard to find space just to be human — and now more than ever, being our unpolished, human selves is one of the most useful things we can do for one another.
Also — this is a creative space.
While there are no rules in creativity, I’m still a fan of structure. I like to set up little bumpers on either side of my lane of choice (within which anything goes, of course).
That’s why I’ve created another loose series on the blog: The Rapid Log.
Named for my bullet journaling practice, The Rapid Log will house short, in-the-moment reflections and stories from the mundane living of life through the lens of Debit This, Create That.
And yes, this is post 4 of the ‘Log because creativity is imperfect, there are no rules, and time is really less of a straight line and more of a Jeremy Bearimy, anyways.
Image from The Good Place (NBC)
The Rapid Log is really a personal permission slip for the writing I’ve been wanting to do, but didn’t feel useful enough.
I wanted to explore unedited (okay, minimally edited), expressive or thoughtful work that just kind-of… Exists. Not to instruct — just to share a moment and to be on the journey, like an expanded version of the insights shared in my monthly letters.
Perfectionism had some loud questions about this. Who would read this, and why would they care? What is the point, and how would it help? Where does this fit into the greater ecosystem?
I’ve written a lot on this blog about sharing your work even if it’s imperfect, working through perfectionism, and creating through fear. Those are essentially calls to action — permission slips you can borrow. But action isn’t always the answer.
Sometimes we need to write our own permission slips, and to do that, we need to wait until we’re ready. It’s only after that waiting period that we can write them.
We’re not waiting until we’ve mastered a skill (or researched it to death). We’re waiting until we’ve developed a certain level of comfort with our pull toward our work. It’s the point when our feelings toward risk-taking swing more freeing than constricting.
So after 96 published posts, many of which are oriented to traditional usefulness, I’m hoping The Rapid Log will add a much-needed layer of depth to the blog: the one where the writer walks the walk, shows up in the messy middle, and explores this dedicated playground for more loose, introspective writing.
So, I warmly invite you into my messy process and in-the-moment insights. Welcome to The Rapid Log.
Meanwhile, when you’re ready, I hope you’ll get to work writing your own permission slips. If you need an idea, why not start simply with permission to show up — human and unpolished?
If you’re new here, welcome!
This blog started out as a personal permission slip in and of itself. Feel like wandering further? You might enjoy Choose Your Creative Path — a place to orient your creative journey.
I’ve also written more about my own path back to creativity after burnout in Creativity, Lost and Found: My Story (and Signs it’s Time to Reconnect With Yours), if that feels like the season you’re in, too.
